Animorphs: New Tide
by Glorious Mind
Summary: Rating is probably there for security. Summary: Rachel’s dead, get over it. Even the Ellimist couldn’t save her. But what happens after death? What if the Ellimist could affect that? What if he did? What would happen then?
1. I hate this plan

Disclaimer: I have no right to defile Animorphs like this, as it isn't mine. But still I will.  
  
Everyone may be a bit OC but give me a break; I haven't read the books in a while.  
  
Summary: Rachel's dead, get over it. Even the Ellimist couldn't save her. But what happens after death? What if the Ellimist could affect that? What if he did? What would happen then?  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Jake  
  
The Rachel jumped forward shooting towards the Blade Ship. It seemed stuck between turning away to escape or turning to blast us with its weapons. The front turned away and the dracon guns turned to track us. One battery managed to turn to bear and it fired. The screen showed the beam flare into the shields, it was like a straw pressing against a bubble, and as it should do, the bubble burst, it flared into the right side of the Rachel. I couldn't see the damage but the whole ship began to list to the right.  
  
"Keep her straight on!" I yelled. Menderesh nodded and straightened up. More beams fired and the ship began to judder. Marco grabbed a railing and shouted to me.  
  
"Jake! I've changed my mind, I just remembered why I left the crazy suicidal plans to Rachel. THEY'RE SUICIDAL!"  
  
I yelled back, "Too late. Can't stop now!"  
  
Marco stared, but then smiled, "OK! But if we survive this, I'm going to kill you!"  
  
We were close to the Blade ship, the front had started to turn back and we impacted into their shields. There was a massive screech and we broke through. Heading straight for the middle of the Blade ships handle. Suddenly a red beam crossed the display and we were blind. We could only be seconds away from hitting the Blade ship. This was really it. The end. Tobias seemed calm, like the whole thing was no big deal. Well, at least we can answer the question of what happens next.  
  
A huge screech erupted from somewhere in the ship. We had hit the Blade Ship. A massive shockwave threw me to the floor. The ceiling began to fall. Then everything froze. A piece of the ceiling was hovering in midair. Marco reached out and touched it.  
  
"The Ellimist?" he asked. I shrugged, how would I know. Then she appeared. 


	2. In the Afterlife

Disclaimer: Own not I a dragonfly nor the Animorph series.  
  
Also, please don't try and correct any science I throw in here. I am coming up with something that works, and that may not always be plausible. And if it keeps you up at night, The Ellimist did it, ok?  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Rachel  
  
I was Rachel. Guess that name doesn't really work anymore because I'm currently sprawling on the floor; my palms flat and I think my neck is broken. I can tell this because I'm standing next to it. My soul or shade, or whatever it is, is now me. The whole world seemed to be grey, and there was no sound whatsoever. The polar bear that just killed me now just kicked my body. This got me very mad, show some respect for the dead, why not! I ran up to him and tried to smack him round the face, which was quite stupid as I could barely reach to begin with and even though I only caught his chin, my hand still past straight through it.  
  
"Argh!" I yelled in frustration as the polar bear demorphed and I landed a flurry of blows into his lower intestine all of which did nothing. I slightly amused myself by waving my fingers in people, but soon I was mad again. Somehow I was in purgatory, limbo, stuck and pissed off.  
  
"Hello? Look, someone should at least tell me what the hell is going on?" I yelled, my voice echoing around nothing.  
  
'So long as you want it.' Came a voice from behind me. I turned to face the Ellimist.  
  
"You! What the hell!? You come to say goodbye, leaving me here, and then you come back! Can you PLEASE explain?" I yelled.  
  
'Of course, the event continued despite your death. I had to ensure that Crayak didn't try to pull anything.' The Ellimist replied calmly. 'You, as you can see are dead.' He indicated my body on the floor. 'I couldn't change that and I am sorry. But you still have options.'  
  
"What, sit here forever, or leave and watch everyone else live? Great choice. Because if I was supposed to meet an angel or whatever, they are late!" I yelled. Bastard let me die!  
  
'No. You will die completely, your essence will vanish and you will know no more. Or you can join me.' The Ellimist said.  
  
This intrigued me. "Join you?" I asked.  
  
'Yes. You would be like Crayaks Drode, only for me. You will learn the intricacies of the game, and you will help me play.' The Ellimist replied.  
  
It was tempting, considering my alternative was to die. But I wonder how it was possible. "But I'm just human. How can I possibly be like you?"  
  
'My power is in effect limitless. Only a fraction of my power will place you even with the Drode.' The Ellimist said. 'But you must obey all the rules of the game as we do.' "But why me?" I asked him.  
  
'After watching your actions I realised that maybe I am too passive. On occasion action is needed, and you will be the best choice to guide me when that is so.' The Ellimist.  
  
That gave me an ego trip. Out of all the beings in the galaxy he had chosen me. I said this to the Ellimist.  
  
'I sense great potential in you and I wish to discover how far you can go.' He said.  
  
I smiled. "I accept. When do I start?"  
  
'Now.' The Ellimist nodded and we were gone. Instead of the Blade Ship's grey interior it was darkness. Or at least the sky was, the floor was a river of colour, twisting, cavorting, new strands ended and new strands began of every colour imaginable. I couldn't help myself but think how great some of those colours would look on me. At least I think it was the floor, I was hovering several feet above it all.  
  
"Wow." That was all I could manage. Yes, me, Rachel, was overawed by some pretty streamers. Sad huh? Well those streamers are amazing; I haven't done them justice with these few words. But they are a side point, we must move on.  
  
'This, is Time. The passing of, the past and the future of. All that will happen here is recorded.' The Ellimist said grandly.  
  
"Wow." I repeated. But then a thought occurred to me. "If you can see this then why don't you erase all the bad things, like the Yeerks?"  
  
'Time is a delicate tapestry, removing a thread unravels the whole thing.' The Ellimist said sadly, 'Come, and see.'  
  
Suddenly we rushed backwards, streamers appeared and disappeared until nearly everything disappeared. A gap miles long was in the middle of the tapestry, and in the gap was a festering lump. 'The removal of one 'bad' species, destroyed most of the galaxy. This is my greatest folly and it must never be repeated.' The Ellimist said.  
  
I looked closer at the darkness and felt the pain, destruction of billions of lives. I pulled back in shock. 'Yes. Each time we lose, the galaxy suffers. It is a heavy burden to defend, but now we must.' The Ellimist said.  
  
"Wow. Kind of makes my fight pale in significance." I said. Defending the whole galaxy.  
  
'No. Every fight is important, every life is vital.' The Ellimist stressed that point. 'Never think less of anything.'  
  
I nodded, "Lesson number 1, eh?"  
  
He nodded back, "Out of many." And so my training began. I learned so much, in the space of no time. The Ellimist created tiny worlds in our minds, with which we fought over, sometimes I defended, and sometimes I had to destroy. I lost them all. The Ellimist knew of thousands of races, and we battled over them all, when aliens invaded, famine swept the land or a meteorite hit. And I lost them all. Races prospered when I tried to destroy them, worlds died when I defended them. Death seemed to open my mind; I could remember every single detail, from every game, every time The Ellimist spoke I could remember what he said. And I learned. I discovered the rules were simple, but the possibilities endless. It ran on a simple points system, each action gave the opponent points with which to respond, the bigger the action the more points and therefore the bigger the reaction called an exchange. This is a simplified version, as a lot of game was a feeling about something. At the start I took the hammer approach, smashing diseases, killing predators, bringing rain, or when I destroyed, rains of fire and plagues but each time The Ellimist brought a new terror that I couldn't fix regardless of what I tried, a tiny gene flaw in the people or the food that completely countered my move. But soon I reduced my actions, such as getting a smart person to study medicine or a new method of irrigation, little things that had a huge impact on the world. And as I started to win The Ellimist smiled. 'Now, we play the whole game.'  
  
And we did, The Ellimist opened up the galaxy as our playing field. A fresh galaxy, with newly formed planets and baby suns. 'The rules have changed, you must now deal on a wider scale, watching for each change on every world, for no move has to be announced to the others.' And we played, tinkering in the gene pools of starting worlds, changing orbits, adding to suns, the pre-game if you will. Often I was wrong, and many planets spun off into space, or suns exploded vaporising worlds. Hey, I'm no physicist; I can't automatically predict what will happen. Millennia past in the blink of an eye, and life emerged. Bi-peds, tri-peds and no-peds, things with wings, legs tentacles, everything imaginable occurred somewhere. And for a time, it was good. I focused on developing a quarter of the galaxy, watching over them, giving them nudges in the right direction, and only occasionally interfered directly with the running of the universe or looking around the galaxy for signs of the Ellimist's actions. Billions of years past without contact, my races evolved and developed Zero-space transportation. I had planted the seeds of good will in all of them and soon a huge co-operative empire emerged. I laughed at the thought of what Marco would have said when he knew I started the Federation. But I knew that soon the Ellimist would attack and I prepared my federation for them. I had an explorer vessel land on a specially created world, full of predators. It was horrible, even though I knew it would happen. Acid vines wrapped themselves around the ship, dissolving the outside; savage beasts with more mouths than legs ripped their way in and devoured the crew. I ensured the survival of a few to return with their message of danger. Soon weapons were being developed, to massive protests from the general population. The pacifist movement grew in strength until several worlds were lost and the high council took action, they launched warships to restore order, but it failed and despite my best attempts they destroyed the worlds totally. This sparked off massive revolts everywhere, the Federation was torn apart by internal strife. The pacifists turned to anarchists and seized control of the ships, war broke out between them and the high council. New and deadly weapon were produced and fired, destroying whole sectors and the only option left was to removed all knowledge of these weapons of war, to start over back before the worlds developed weapons. Worlds were re-animated, lives restored. And then The Ellimist played his moves. He created a system that had a unique gravitational field that randomly threw asteroids into space, straight at my worlds. I only had time to realise what would happen before they struck, my major trade and high council worlds were destroyed. Without leadership, the Federation collapsed and gradually each world fell prey to the space debris, I deflected them only for them to strike other planets or suns, killing everything nearby. Within a million years of the first asteroid, every planet I had created was dead. I quit. I just sat and watched what was my favourite world, a world of athletic shoppers, vain, yes but it was almost not my fault, anyway I watched my favourite world, now dead, slowly rotate around its sun. The Ellimist appeared and stood next to me. 'You did well.' He said.  
  
"But how? I did everything right. They were happy, peaceful. All I did was to get them to protect themselves." I cried in frustration. I reached out and backhanded the sun into space. Suddenly all the planets in orbit flew off into space, their gravity cycle ruined. 'And if I hadn't been here, you would have created a great society. But you must understand, people will object to most new things and weapons are the worst. All I did was plant a tiny seed of rebellion in their minds and look where it went. You undid it but such a move gave me the power to alter that galaxy, destroying all your work. What is done, is done, of you undo it, that chances are that something worse will happen as a reaction. You can fix a problem, but NEVER undo it. You also focused too much on a small area, look at the rest of the galaxy.' He swept his hand and I saw a galaxy of ruined worlds, desolate plains, nothing. Everything else had been stripped clean except for my quarter, and now that was gone. 'You must have a broad mind, examining everything, watching everything, ignoring everything.' He continued. 'And now we play again.' Suddenly all the galaxy was repaired, as if nothing had happened. And we played again. I jumped around, helping developing races, toning down aggressive races. I was a freaking galactic saint. I even made an appearance to a certain race and made a religion around me, one of kindness and grace. It seemed easier than focusing on a certain race or area, and although I lost a few races to internal turmoil or disease, generally the galaxy was a happy place, and then the invasions started. From all around, worlds were being attacked by 'the Order of Rakel', this immediately arose my suspicion and I returned to my world, sure enough the world had developed into a launchpad for invasion ships. I was so angry that my message had been twisted so that I went Wrath of God on their ass, fire and brimstone destroyed the ground, and huge storms crushed any ships that left. I didn't remove the problem but I destroyed the source. And so I thought it was settled, instead the Holy Crusades increased in frequency and violence. Soon most of the galaxy was under control of the Order. But it wasn't bad, sure they were xeno-cidal but surely a peaceful galaxy was the main aim, and the Order promised that. But it was not to be. Soon the order spilt into factions, which warred with each other over the true meanings of the teachings of Rakel and they destroyed themselves. Again, the galaxy was ruined by a bunch of idiots. Again, it seemed pointless. And I thought it was, I decided to end all this, life was too dangerous, frustrating, whatever happened they were crude, and killing each other. So for a time I was Rachel the Destroyer, crusher of worlds, extinguisher of suns. And I lived up to that name, and nothing lived that crossed my path. Until I found Earth. That's right, The Ellimist had created Earth and Venus and Mars, the whole solar system. I stopped in my rampage and looked closer. It was 1995, before we met the Yeerks and I was there. I saw myself with everyone except Tobias, meeting for some forgotten reason. We were eating and laughing at the tv. And that image of me, doing nothing of importance struck me more than the suffering of imaginary billions that I had caused. I sat down and watched. It was good to see me happy, before everything happened.  
  
'See, happiness on a large scale is impossible, for any period of time. All we can hope for is to bring peace and happiness to a single person, and then to another, and another. Until all is peaceful. Then we will have won, for not even Crayak will be able to destroy their unity.' The Ellimist had appeared behind me as usual, and sat next to me. 'Crayak works on the large scale, but victory can only be obtained through the small, growing into the large scale. Do you see?'  
  
I nodded, "I think I do."  
  
We were back in the Blade ship, and my body was just being dragged out. It was bizarre, to return to the same moment after I left after living what felt like millennia.  
  
"What? No time has past at all!?" I exclaimed, "How?"  
  
'Time past, but only for us. Now, you must be announced.' The Ellimist said. Suddenly we were gone, into a realm of darkness, black everywhere except for a small ceremonial gong, which The Ellimist struck, the sound seemed to reverberate on a higher level, and obviously travelled a long way because almost immediately Crayak and The Drode appeared. Crayak turned his red eye to me and glared. The Drode smiled and began to dance gleefully.  
  
"She was supposed to die. That was the exchange. You have broken the rules." Crayak announced, his voice terrible with its power. I felt an urge to bow, but then I thought better, I never bowed before and I won't start now. If The Ellimist broke a rule it wasn't my fault. Instead I glared back at the Drode. "Rulebreaker, rulebreaker!" The Drode chanted, pointing a finger at The Ellimist.  
  
'I have done no such thing; the Rachel from Earth is dead. This is my new partner. Rachel died, she is dead but her spirit is here with me.' The Ellimist replied calmly.  
  
"False. She was supposed to die, she is still alive and you have broken the rules." Crayak insisted.  
  
'Rachel is dead. There is a body, there are witnesses, she no longer exists.' The Ellimist replied. 'What happens after death is a new exchange.'  
  
Crayak's eye narrowed. "Very well. She is your new partner, equal to The Drode. Does she understand the rules?"  
  
'Yes, she does. But as she is new, may we play for a low risk bid? A single world, no outside influences?' The Ellimist suggested. "Very well. Low bid, for our new player, shall we begin?" Crayak boomed.  
  
'Yes.' Was the reply.  
  
"Haha! Not Jake, but his cousin! Fun, fun, fun!" The Drode crowed. And again we were gone. The three of us appeared next to a yellow planet, orbiting a reddish sun. It was the fourth planet out and it was inhabited. And I have no idea how I knew this. I tried to think of other things that I wouldn't know. I realised that I had the knowledge, of everything, anything I wanted to know I had to think about it and I knew it. What my parents were thinking at the moment, when Marco finally realised he didn't stand a chance with me, how my parents first met in detail, everything. I started focusing on what else I knew when The Ellimist grabbed my attention, not with anything, he just made himself noticeable to me.  
  
'Enjoying your new powers?' He asked.  
  
"I wasn't expecting anything like this." I said amazed by the amount and accuracy of the knowledge.  
  
'Yes, it may take sometime. But we must focus on saving this world. Think about this planet.' The Ellimist said.  
  
I did and I knew all. Yeah, it sounds pretty omnipotent but I really did know everything. I knew their history, technology, society, everything. And I could think about them all at once. The race was the If-lor, a tri-ped race, surprisingly silicon based. They seemed similar to the Leerans, as they are frog-like, with their huge chests, but their faces were very layered, with layers of flabby skin hanging off everywhere. They had a complex language, at about the same level as English. The land covered the surface with only a few lakes of sulphur. Hey, this isn't Earth, remember? They had several nations, all in contact with each other. They were mostly used for trading and boundaries were very slack. Their law was a tribal law, there was a judge voted in who listened to the case and decided on the punishment.  
  
'We must find what Crayak has changed.' The Ellimist said. 'Look carefully for anything that doesn't seem the norm.'  
  
And I did, I searched all over the land, looking for anything bizarre like a thief stealing something important but worthless, or a randy predator that seemed to want to reproduce a lot. Instead I found a very normal thing. One If-lor had killed another, by accident, he had rolled a stone out of the way which had rolled, off a cliff onto the other If-lor. Unfortunately, things were complicated, because in the local tribal custom, whoever killed the chief became the chief, and guess who kicked the bucket? Yes, the chief, normally this would be ok, but the killer belonged to a different tribe who believed in punishing the crime. So, there was a group who wanted him as chief, a group that wanted him to be tried in a court, a group that didn't think he should be chief because it was an accident but didn't have an alternative, a group that didn't want a outsider to become chief and a group who think a chief is above the law. So there are five factions that are all arguing over this one If-lor, who doesn't have a clue how to act.  
  
'Our move.' The Ellimist said. "Are you sure? What do you suggest?" I asked, being impetuous was all well and good when the people weren't real, but this takes on a whole new level.  
  
'Yes, the stone should have rolled the other way. Crayak has used the slightest push to alter the peace, you should learn from it. The best solution is that the If-lor goes to the trial, is found guilty of manslaughter and the punishment is to have to share the power of the chief hood with a council made up of both tribes.' The Ellimist replied.  
  
"Isn't that much larger than making a stone roll the other way?" I asked.  
  
'Yes, but it would settle the most people the easiest way.' The Ellimist replied and so gave the new chiefs mind a little nudge. During the trial he also prodded the judge to declare manslaughter and set up the council. There was uproar at first and a few fights but gradually, as each side accepted the other they learnt tolerance and acceptance. 'See?' The Ellimist asked indicating the new tribe, sharing ideas at a council meeting.  
  
And so my first real struggle for a planet began. I became The Ellimist's spy girl, I leapt around finding changes, or useful people. Science was a low concern to the If-lor and so I decided to increase the curiosity of a few If-lor. They began to experiment with their world, finding out how things work. Just to cover our back, against a plague or something. The Ellimist wasn't happy. 'Why? What possible use would a smarter If-lor be to the crisis on the other side of the globe?'  
  
I shook my head, surprised he couldn't see, "To protect ourselves, as they evolve, they will discover things, that we can use later."  
  
'Hmmm.' Was the only reply I got.  
  
Time continued, only a year or two and the world changed. With each new change The Ellimist and I discussed what should be done, he dismissed a lot of my ideas of hand that annoyed me a bit, but he knew to listen if I had a real gem. Crayak in a gamble began to change the atmosphere, small vents in the surface pumped out small amounts of oxygen, which was poison to the If- lor. This gave us a great chance. The Ellimist and I altered a common creature that was a bit like a dog, but not much to not only absorb oxygen but to excrete valuable minerals as well, sort of super evolution. You can debate over whether opening the planets core is more or less important that forcing evolution on a species in 5 months but in this game it was more. It was fairly impressive watching a dog crap diamonds but more importantly, it gave us an edge, a small bonus over Crayak for any further schemes of his. In the long run this was a very good thing as Crayaks next move was to fatten these animals up, make them attractive to hunters soon their numbers fell and the poisonous oxygen increased, the tribes near the vents began to die out but with our extra 'points' we gave them oxygen resistant veins, anything biting them would get a nasty dose of oxygen, killing them instantly and oxygen store house in their main fat storage area, making them in-edible. And since such valuable metals were being produced in abundance, tools suddenly got better, digging was much more effective and if you ignored that you lived in a house of crap, it made good building material. It was everywhere and so there was no war over possession of it, thankfully sidestepping that possible problem. Crayak tried to mangle every detail into a weapon, land disputes, ownership, their equivalent of marriage, everything, but each time The Ellimist showed me a simple solution to it, and it seemed we were getting the upper hand. I smirked as the group of smart If-lor solved a problem all by themselves, granting me an apology from The Ellimist. 'You were right, there was a purpose to them, although there was no way you could have foreseen this.' To which I replied, "My middle name is luck, and it seems to be making up for killing me." This earned me a slightly higher level of respect with The Ellimist and soon he started letting me chose how to respond to a problem by myself. I got confident, and I screwed up big because of it. Crayak had been setting aside a few points every opportunity he got until he could play his ace and he did. Suddenly at the start of a new lunar cycle a huge creature attacked a tribe, he breathed oxygen, killing many of the warriors that went out to meet him and crushed the others. The tribe was wiped out in minutes, and I had no idea why. I searched back, and found my answer. Those dog like creatures I helped create? Yeap, those had put on a lot of weight and found leaves didn't cut it anymore, a giant oxygen excreting monster. I studied their genetic make- up, Crayak's extra fat had kept growing over time and he just gave it a boost. Soon these monster dogs were killing hundreds everyday and I had to stop it. I couldn't kill them as they took the oxygen away and provided valuable resources for the If-lor. But how to stop them. And then I found it. A small underground plate that it struck in the right way would close all the oxygen vents, and if I retarded the growth of the monsters everything would return. I should have been suspicious, that plate was too convenient but I wasn't. I moved it and it closed all the vents and lots of the growth hormones in the dogs were mysteriously taken away. The world returned to normal, or so I thought. Crayak didn't do anything, which worried me. The Ellimist was also worried, he searched all around but couldn't find anything wrong. Then suddenly: BOOM! Every vent on the planet erupted, the pressure had gotten too much and millions of litres of oxygen burst all over the planet, killing everything. And I mean everything, plants, If-lors and those smaller dog like things, everything on the planet was dead. And again I had caused it.  
  
"Shit!" Was all I could do, there was no one left to save. I had lost.  
  
'A whole world, gone forever.' The Ellimist said.  
  
"I know! I caused it! It is all my fault!" I yelled at him. "You chose wrong! I can't do this! Everything is too hard, I don't play defensively!"  
  
"The game is over." Suddenly Crayak appeared as smug as a giant machine thing can be. "Your 'partner' lost."  
  
'Yes. She did. Now, back to the proper game, alright?' The Ellimist asked.  
  
"Oh no. I still am owed a move." Crayak announced.  
  
"What! NO! You took your turn! You killed everything on the planet!" I yelled, that murdering scum was trying to scam us!  
  
"No I did not. That was a natural process." Crayak smiled. "See inside yourself, feel it to be true." And I did, and he was right. The pressure built up was natural. He would have had a huge turn to take. "And since there is nothing left here, I will move it into the real game."  
  
'What! NO!' The Ellimist yelled, emulating me a few seconds earlier. 'That is against the rules!'  
  
"No it isn't, just as we move around the galaxy I will move my turn into the real game. There is nothing to affect here, so I will alter reality again. But to obey the rules, I will use it with a 'friend' of 'Rachel', perhaps their Andalite friend. Aximili?"  
  
NO! He can't do that! I thought.  
  
"He's been a busy little Andalite. Searching for your killers. I think me might just have to find something else." Crayak taunted me.  
  
"No, no, no." I said shaking my head slowly.  
  
"Oh yes. Rachel, I think you had better watch." Crayak said. We moved, into a grand overview of the galaxy, all the stars and planets. It zoomed into a moon, where out of nowhere a giant ship appeared. It was horrible, Crayak had created a floating weapon, it looked exactly like a crippled craft, powerless but it was vibrant with power, undetectable to Andalites. The perfect ambush. The Intrepid drew up nearby and prepared to launch a craft. Ax fell for it, Crayak even manipulated it so Ax would be onboard the weapon. I turned to The Ellimist,  
  
"Can't we do anything?" I asked.  
  
'Crayak still has too much power, anything we try would be futile.' He replied, sadness in his eyes.  
  
"I will not believe that!" I yelled and I ran. Ran down into the real world ran to the Andalite ship. I appeared in front of Ax, I breathed in. It had been a lifetime since I had seen him. He looked much the same, but bolder, braver. Being a Prince had improved him. I ran to him, to warn him. But I past straight through him.  
  
"What!?" I yelled in frustration, "Ax, listen to me! Get out of here!"  
  
"Foolish girl! They cannot see you." Crayak's voice appeared in my head along with his laughter. Screaming in anger I ran to the bridge of the ship. Again I tried to warn them, but nothing. They couldn't hear me! I focused, I had to change something! And then I saw it. The shield level, if they could be increased, then the ship might be saved! I focused on the Andalite controlling the panel, and implanted a subtle idea in his head, Raise the shields slowly. and subconsciously he did. It could save the ship 'Come on, come on!" I thought. Suddenly the intercom buzzed, Raise the shields! Go to condition 1! The bridge suddenly became a hive of activity, the shield Andalite looked a little surprised to have his finger on the right button but he raised it and the shields powered up, but it was too late. The ship powered up and fired, the high-powered beam smashed into the ship, the slightly powered up shields saved it from total destruction but it was crippled, a hole was opened in the bridge and one of the Andalites was sucked out into space, but the ship was safe. The survivors began to pull back, they were safe. I left and returned to the window. Crayak wasn't going to kill them. But why?  
  
"Oh, Rachel. A missing ship is so much boring than a damaged ship with a missing captain." Crayak laughed, "And that is what this is all about, laying a trap, watching them come closer, and closer, until it is too late! It's perfect."  
  
"You bastard. What are you going to do to Ax!?" I yelled up at him.  
  
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps, yes, that WILL be interesting." Crayak mused. "Yes, this will be good. Ellimist, your Animorphs will have more work."  
  
"What! You sick, twisted freak! Can't you leave them alone?" I yelled. I was angry, he had done something to Ax and was planning to do something to all the others. Jake, Cassie, Marco,.Tobias. We had done enough!  
  
"Oh, I will, when their corpses have decayed into nothing." Crayak laughed evilly. "But, for a while I shall leave them alone. Our game shall play elsewhere." And with this he vanished.  
  
The Ellimist, silent through out all of this spoke to me. 'Perhaps I was wrong to do this to you.'  
  
"Gee. You think? I only went and killed a world! A whole, freaking world!" I yelled.  
  
'Perhaps you should just observe once more, to how we play. I was overconfident, you weren't ready to gamble with lives. You still can learn much.' He said calmly. And I knew he was right, I wasn't ready. I had cost us a world.  
  
"Alright. But you must teach me. I thought I knew enough. I'm sorry." I said.  
  
'Do not be. I lost many a battle before I understood how to play. You will soon.' The Ellimist replied.  
  
OK! First public fic here, so I hope someone liked it.  
  
Anyone that takes the time to review: I'd appreciate you saying what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd like to see, etc.  
  
Ok, thanks! 


	3. Act like a human

Hey, a review! Thank you CrypticIdentity, for proof I'm not wasting my time.  
  
Disclaimer: Look, if I owned Animorphs I'd be a lot happier.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Rachel  
  
I searched the galaxy for Ax, searching every corner of space for the hulk, but there was nothing. Ax, and the ship were gone. The Ellimist let me go, with my promise not to interfere with anything. After checking every conceivable place, and a few inconceivable places, I gave up. Crayak had Ax somewhere, but I couldn't find him.  
  
Crayak led us on a merry dance around the galaxy, threatening hundreds of worlds, all the usual disasters: plagues, asteroids, competition for food, the list went on. But he never kept to one place for too long, if it seemed like we had solved the problem he moved on, never focusing on any world in particular. A lightning tour of the galaxy, if you will. It was really a change, the Ellimist had shown me many things, but he seemed to lack imagination, when we had played he created many things, but they all seemed to be altered off a standard base, the galaxy was a lot weirder. I saw things that hypnotised me with their beauty and strangeness, things that puzzled me, and surprisingly a planet that had exactly the same landmasses as Earth. I seemed to inherit Ax's ability to be able to know the time exactly, as each planet had a different day length, but I was still counting Earth days, it was even worse as I realised it had been years since I had slept, it was strange, the long periods of time just spend watching. The Ellimist was good, but he seemed to lack too much imagination, the galaxy threw up more wonders and oddities than anyone could possibly imagine. For six months I watched and learned more, I was just The Ellimists lapdog, which was infuriating, but I knew, that still I would make a mistake and cost more lives.  
  
The Ellimist didn't seem to really notice the random jumping around and one day, as we watched a planted asteroid fly past a beautiful planet that we had saved, I asked him so.  
  
"Why is he doing this? Crayak, he is randomly jumping from planet to planet, not trying to destroy any of them?" I asked.  
  
'He, is weaving a plan. Each of his moves, it costs us more to prevent it than he used to cause it. He is building up his moves until he can plan something big. And I believe it involves your old friends, the Animorphs.' He said.  
  
"What? Well, I've got to warn them!" I exclaimed. Crayak had pulled some things before but we had always had some sort of warning about it.  
  
'And tell them what? You think Crayak will try something? What will that achieve?' He asked.  
  
I bowed my head slightly in realisation, "Nothing."  
  
'This is important. You must learn to recognise the difference between what you want to do, and what you need to do. The simplest action can have the greatest results.' The Ellimist said to me, smiling slightly.  
  
It was after six Earth months that Crayak made his final move. We emerged in a normal two-sun system (yes, it surprised me too that on average, that is normal), there was a life-sustaining planet but we were drawn towards two ships, floating in the void. Perhaps an important figure was going to be destroyed. No, it wasn't. I could feel my friends on board one of the vessels: Jake, Marco, Tobias and others. They were tense, something was going down. Then I saw the Blade Ship, I nearly laughed, that my friends had searched and tracked down my killers. It was a sweet sentiment. But I could sense the foul taint of Crayak on both ships. The Blade ship was full of it, each mind trapped in an illusion that I couldn't fathom. And my friend's ship, their minds were fogged, ideas of caution blocked, at least in Jake's mind. And then I saw it. The plan, a powerful ship filled with demented, psychotic Yeerks and my friends, their leader seeming perfectly in control, except he's now crazier than I am. I was. Jake was going to ram the Blade ship, destroying both and eliminating every random element. I had to stop them. "We have to do something!" I said to The Ellimist.  
  
'No, we cannot. You may want it but we do not need to. They have saved the Earth; they have finished their mission. They are no longer needed. Their loss of life is sad, but don't you see? Their loss will destroy the great evil of the Blade Ship and its crew. They will achieve one last task, and we have affected nothing. It is a perfect situation.' He said. He had a sad smile on his face, but a demeanour of stoic inaction.  
  
"What!? You are just going to let them die, 'for the greater good'? NO! I am going to save them!" I yelled. I tried to go down there, it stop it but I could feel The Ellimist stopping me, so I dived down through the real world, down to human size to watch and prevent this event from occurring. As I crossed the void the action started, the Animorph ship powered it engines and headed for the Blade Ship. The Ellimist appeared next to me.  
  
'I can't let you do this Rachel.' He said.  
  
"Do what? Save my friends? Act like a human? Do the right thing?" I yelled back, bypassing him.  
  
'You are no longer human! You must think past that!' He yelled as I flew past, 'You must listen to your head not your heart!'  
  
Dracon beams shot out of the Blade Ship straight at the other ship. I tried to deflect them away but The Ellimist stopped my efforts. The beams penetrated the shield and struck the ship. Huge lines were scored into the front of the craft and bits began to fly off but the ship still continued towards the blade ship. More beams struck the ship, it seemed that it was being held together by momentum. I was so close I could see the various joints on each ship. The doomed ships collided; the front of the Animorph ship began to curl around the Blade Ship that was also threatening to break in half.  
  
"Damn!" I yelled. I curled my energy into one ball and released it. It broke through The Ellimist's power, and time froze. Individual sheet metal was flying in all directions. I breathed out, I had done it. Now for the hard part. I walked through the ship into the bridge. Jake had just shrugged to Marco when I walked through the wall. Jake's arms dropped straight down to his side in shock, his eyes and mouth opened wide. Marco looked over his shoulder slowly and his eyes opened in shock as well. Tobias just stood there, his sharp eyes glaring at me, as if I wasn't really there. Suddenly he took off, his wings flapping hard, but he morphed as well. He began to lose feathers all over his body, his head swelled; his wings began to spilt into fingers. It was the fastest morph I'd ever seen and as he reached me he was nearly human. He wrapped his molten arms around my body in a massive hug.  
  
And I felt nothing for him.  
  
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Oh, well that might annoy at least one reader.  
  
Just a little cliff hanger for you but I might have another chapter tomorrow.  
  
See ya around. 


	4. No Rachel, No cry

Disclaimer: Me = poor guy, owns a cat, K.A.A = rich woman, owns Animorphs. BIG difference.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Jake  
  
It was Rachel. Exactly like she was on the Blade Ship, her long blonde hair perfectly formed. She was alive. My face and arms lost all sense of control in surprise. Marco turned round and seemed just as shocked. Tobias seemed paralysed too until he burst into frenzied flight, trying to do as good as a hawk can at throwing yourself into someone's arms. And all the time, I just thought 'She's alive.'  
  
Marco  
  
Jake suddenly had a weird look on his face, not terror just total shock. Now when times stopped, anything could happen, so I turned around very slowly, ready to run from whatever the hell it was but nothing could have prepared me for what really was there: Rachel, standing there quite normally, as if nothing had happened. It seemed the secret to eternal youth is dying, no great comfort though, huh? Rachel wasn't a day older than she was on the Blade Ship and was still wearing her stylish morphing suit. Xena lives! Or we don't. I figured this meant I was dead too, seeing as we had just crashed and Rachel appearing suddenly, but there wasn't any pain and there are worse things to be greeted with. Tobias seemed to be shock, which is understandable really, his dead love appearing like that, but suddenly he flew towards her and was the first bird to achieve Warp speed in the attempt. He demorphed as he flew and gave Rachel a bear hug. But, she seemed to react strangely; or rather she didn't react at all.  
  
Menderash  
  
In my many years as first officer I had seen many strange things. But actually seeing the Ellimist was the strangest, I would never have imagined he would appear as a young human female, the crew was human except for me, but it was a bizarre choice to appear in. I glanced around at everyone else, Jake, Marco and Tobias seemed frozen and I wondered if they were frozen along with reality, but there was a small amount of movement, they were just being very still. Jeanne and Santorelli seemed clueless as to the identity of this new person, but their expressions changed to one that I believe was wonder, puzzlement or perhaps having smelled something foul. I had spent a bit of time with the humans, but still their facial expressions were sometimes confusing. A tall, blonde girl wearing what Jake and the others would have called a morphing suit, it really made no sense. Unless, tall, blonde. could this be the dead Animorph, Rachel killed in action upon the Blade Ship? Had her spirit remained aboard the Blade Ship until now? Tobias flew across the bridge while morphing, resulting in a molten flesh ball flying towards her. He reached her and enveloped her with his body in an action known as a hug. Knowing their history and Tobias' reaction it would seem that we had in fact found Rachel.  
  
Jeanne  
  
I was dead. We had crashed, died and were some form of limbo. I was contemplating the horror of spending eternity with Marco when suddenly a young girl walked through one of the walls onto the bridge. Honestly I hadn't expected the Grim Reaper to be so. bright. She looked around; looking relieved and happy, like us dying was a good event. The Animorphs seemed shocked by the girls' appearance, but Santorelli and Menderash seemed just as confused as I was. Then it clicked; I had seen the girl before. It was Rachel, the only Animorph to die in combat. Jake had dropped a picture of her once and I gave it back to him, she hadn't changed since the picture despite it being taken several years ago and her demise. I looked at Tobias; he was shaking, his wings vibrating rapidly. He took off, heading straight for Rachel. I could feel the emotion coming from him, but she seemed distant, like there was something in the way.  
  
Santorelli  
  
I instantly looked around the bridge, checking if there was any danger. It didn't seem as if there was a weapon at work, but with the power of the Blade Ship and the unknown, the One, but who knew for sure? The bridge was a mess, with parts halfway through falling, but there didn't seem to be an immediate threat. Everyone seemed a little puzzled and I was about to get up to investigate more when she appeared. She just walked through a wall, like it was nothing. I reached for my side arm, only to realise that it wasn't there, the jolt must have knocked it out onto the floor somewhere. Everyone seemed to focusing on this new girl, she was the centre of attention. The Animorphs were staring intently at the girl, Jake and Marco seemed to be in shock and Tobias seemed to be crushing the iron railing he was on with his talons. He took off, flying towards this new girl; I started upwards, if he was attacking a human he would need some support. But his next move surprised the hell out of me. Tobias began to morph back to human, and threw himself at the girl, placing his hands around her in an unmistakable hug.  
  
Tobias  
  
She was alive. SHE was alive. She WAS alive. She was ALIVE! That thought just reverberated around my head like a neon sign on a bungee rope. There, bolder than life, just standing there on the bridge, like nothing had happened. Looking exactly as she had on the Blade Ship, her face, her eyes, her leotard, everything. This wasn't a trick, she really was Rachel. My body was as light as a feather and as heavy as lead at the same time. My whole body shook with excitement, I could barely move. Suddenly I took flight straight at her. I had to touch her, to make sure she was real that she was really there, that it wasn't just me. I had to be sure.  
  
I demorphed as I flew; I needed hands, to feel her, to confirm she was there. She turned and looked at me, her eyes warm, but distant. I was still morphing when I reached her but I had arms and I clasp her close to me. Her body felt just the same, the curves, the softness. But it was like hugging a fleshy lamppost; I couldn't feel any sort of feeling coming from her. She looked the same but. she was different, different inside.  
  
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To prevent this from reaching huge lengths I'm breaking this bit in half as Rachel really should talk straight away. Next chapter is Rachel, who will no doubt have some thinking to do.  
  
Also romance isn't going to play a large part in this fic, because romance is going to lead to 'cavorting' and R ratings. Plus the fact that when I start writing porn, I won't stop and it would ruin this story completely. 


	5. A terrible mind

Sorry for the delay, I've had a bit of trouble thinking about where this is really going to go. I still haven't decided but I'll explain at the bottom.  
  
Disclaimer: To be extra witty, I have composed another ditty, owner of Animorphs not I, Why? Because *sigh* Applegate had it first. And so I am cursed to write fan fic, where other peoples ideas I nick.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Rachel  
  
Tobias was right there next to me. I hadn't seen him in years. I knew I loved him, and I knew what love meant, but I didn't feel that for him. But I had before. Had death removed my emotions? No, I still could fell them inside me, but why didn't I feel this for Tobias? There was a wall inside my head. I shook my head, trying to move it, but it was stalwart, immovable. The Ellimist must know.  
  
No, I must focus! I had to get everyone out of here, somewhere safe, somewhere where they can be ok, until I can deal with this, this problem.  
  
Jake opened his mouth to say something but then they were gone, gone to a safe place, far away from both ships. I opened my mind, to both ships, searching. No, there was nothing else worth saving. And I was gone, gone to the Ellimist, gone to get this all sorted out.  
  
I was back, back where all the gamers had met. I had gone looking for the Ellimist, and but it was he that had drawn me to him. He turned to me, sadness radiating from him once again. I wasn't in the mood for sympathy.  
  
"You! You have done something to me! I want it undone! NOW!" I yelled.  
  
The Ellimist breathed in, his movements' heavy with feeling.  
  
'I cannot. I might have once, but now there is too much, you cannot cope with it.'  
  
"I don't care! I want to be me again! To feel things, properly! You've placed this wall in my head and I want it down!" I yelled, now that I knew about it, the blockage in my head was painfully obvious, there in my mind. I could feel something on the other side floating around, like fish in a tank. "Why did you do it? You recruited me to give you a new point of view, a passionate one, but you go and lobotomise me! Making me a little version of you! Why!?"  
  
'Because you cannot cope on your own, there is too much in your mind for you to deal with. It will destroy you.' He replied.  
  
"Try me. I've coped with things no one should be able to deal with, I think I can cope with this." I said, and I wasn't lying. Being with the Animorphs, I had to deal with things no one should.  
  
'No. You will not.' The Ellimist simply shook his head. 'You must understand. Without my help, you have a human mind, human emotions. You need to be more than that to cope with the pressure. I refuse to destroy you.'  
  
He stood resolutely, he wasn't going to free me unless I took action. Something he would value over me. I searched the galaxy my mind jumping from planet to planet. It didn't take long. It was a simple world, densely populated by a rather backward species, but great artists. They had beautiful monuments all over their planet. A precious species. Suddenly we were standing next to the planet, thousands of kilometres tall. The Ellimist looked at me calmly.  
  
"Free my mind, or this planet dies. I will crush it totally, and then another and then another! Until you stop me from whatever the hell you did!" I yelled, moving my hands flattened out around the planet. The Ellimist's eyes opened wide, he realising that I would do it.  
  
'Very well, but be prepared, it will be hard even for you, Rachel.' He conceded. There was no delicate procedures or anything. It was purely mind- to-mind. Picture a fish tank, full of water. Suddenly one of the glass walls vanishes and for a millisecond the water hangs there and pours over the edge. My mind felt like that, emotions pouring over the edge. The emotional significance of what had happened hit me like a hammer. I. I had died! All the pain the others must have felt, mum, dad, Jordan, Sara, Jake, and *Tobias*. My god. They had all thought I was dead. When a 5 minute visit would have stopped their mourning, but I had just left them to their suffering. Wait! My family still thought I was dead! I had to see them. To set it all right! This was terrible, but I was right, I can cope with it. The Ellimist had no right to.  
  
My God.  
  
My eyes widened as far as they would go. My family seemed like a hammer blow, but this realisation was a wreaking ball. I had caused the death of millions of living, thinking creatures, all innocent, all killed due to my incompetence. Their innocence wasn't even debatable like a Yeerk hosts' is, they weren't warriors or prisoners. They were normal people, living their lives and we meddled and toyed with them, and I caused their deaths. I had studied each one of them, I knew their habits, and it was like every single one was a friend that had died. Each life snuffed out, like a candle. I was a monster, an evil meddling monster.  
  
The Ellimist watched Rachel's, the 'real' Rachel's, expression change from shock, to a smug look, which was wiped from her face almost instantly replaced by a blank expression, her eyes widened and seemed to stare through space, to something beyond. She began to shake, almost mechanically and sank to the floor silently, crouching into a ball her hands hooked around her neck. With an air of sadness The Ellimist restored his mental barrier, trapping her feelings once more within her head with a wave of his hand.  
  
My head cleared, like an oppressive fog crushing my spirit that had been sealed off behind a sheet of glass, I could still see them but I couldn't feel them. Love, hate, remorse, gratitude, all gone, at least to their full amount. Gone forever, I was left with a choice of living like this or suffering the guilt of the death of millions. I looked up at the Ellimist,  
  
"I can't live like this." I said softly.  
  
'You must, we have a job to do, or the whole galaxy will suffer.' He replied. I looked inside myself and smiled, I knew what I had to do. I stood up and opened my mouth to speak.  
  
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OK, I didn't think this storyline through very well. Or rather I did, but it would have beaten Mission Impossible for confusing storylines. So, after losing my old story I realised that I had left it too large. My story can go anywhere and I have no idea where it should go so I am thinking that until I think of a great storyline I can write that I'm sure everyone will like or someone sparks an idea that I can develop, I'll be asking you guys about where you want this to go, mostly in the short term but maybe a few long term ideas as well.  
  
Ok, you don't have to answer any of these but if you really like (or hate) a particular idea let me know, please. I am writing this for you remember?  
  
What sort of story would you like generally? An action adventure story, with Rachel kicking ass on a galactic scale A slightly more focused action story centred on a few specific areas More of a reflective, angst-like story with Rachel trying to regain her humanity Anything you can think of, I'm open  
  
What should the main enemy of this story be? Crayak The Kelbrid The One Remnants of the Yeerk Empire A alien race manipulated by Crayak The Drode The weird completely unexplained aliens that caused book 41  
  
Who should accompany Rachel on this story? The Ellimist Some or all of the Animorphs A band of new or old aliens that Rachel 'recruits' for some reason No one, Rachel goes lone wolf  
  
OK, as soon as I get some replies I can start work again! 


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